Appendix B: Rules of Composition

By this time, I hope you’ve gained a better understanding about the creative possibilities of lighting in general and Canon Speedlites in particular. Ideally, you’ve been inspired and learned how to begin lighting your subjects and scenes in new and more visually interesting ways. Keep in mind that great lighting is only part of the picture; you also need an understanding of the conventions and rules governing composition. Granted, when it comes to matters of creativity, “rules” can be hard to quantify. Just call them visual guidelines to keep in mind as you create images and edit your work.

At first, applying these concepts might seem strange and uncomfortable, like holding your camera in a different way or composing scenes through a new lens, and you may struggle a bit. Understand that these are the foundations on which your best shots will be built, and that a conscious working knowledge of them is essential to creating more dynamic and compelling images. Ultimately, these practices will become more innate sensibilities than rote memorization, occurring naturally and almost subconsciously while you work.

Consider these concepts as tools and techniques you can call on when a situation or location is not working or has been exhausted photographically. Mentally going through the list of ideas presented in this appendix can often yield new ways of looking at camera angles, lens choices, and perspective. After all, you should always be on the lookout for new and exciting ways to expand your photographic skills and style.

Keep It Simple

Keeping your compositions simple is probably the easiest yet most important rule in creating powerful and memorable images. Studies have shown that the human eye/brain combination begins to repeat itself, that is, to focus again on areas of an image it has already registered, after less than four seconds of viewing the total work. In today’s image-saturated world, that means you have a very limited time in which to capture the viewer’s attention. Keeping it simple means getting rid of visual clutter in the picture, limiting the elements, and then arranging them in compelling ways.

Each day, you are increasingly bombarded by images for myriad reasons — to sell you products, relate current events, share family milestones, and so on. Eventually, image overload can set in. You want your images to be clear and to the point. Keeping your compositions simple can go a long way toward this goal.

Ideally, your subject should be immediately recognizable to your audience. When considering a subject to photograph, I rarely come upon a scene that needs no adjusting or finessing. This is what distinguishes the professional from the amateur. The amateur simply takes a photograph, while the professional makes a photograph. Although this may seem like semantics, it’s actually an all-important distinction. It takes expertise and careful consideration of all the elements to make a truly remarkable image.

After you’ve determined the goal of your image and what you’re trying to convey about the person you’ll be photographing (the portrait’s viewpoint), the next task is to locate a background that supports and complements that goal. Once you’re at a location or in the studio, keep your options open and don’t get locked in to one idea. Circle your subject 360 degrees and see what other visual possibilities and nearby locations jump out at you. New ideas will flow into your head, and you may end up creating additional images that are entirely different, and often better, than what you first imagined. Edward Weston once remarked, “My own eyes are no more than scouts on a preliminary mission, for the camera’s eye may entirely change my idea.”

Try to come up with backgrounds that have different colors, tones, and textures than your subject does; this way you won’t accidentally camouflage the subject. Having a brighter-toned subject against a darker background, or vice versa, is another way to command more of your viewer’s attention by adding contrast and making your subject stand out. A simple background allows the viewer’s eye to remain largely on the subject and provides the time to make an emotional connection.

To create better photographs, it’s helpful to learn to see the world like your camera does. Think of your camera like a digital sketchpad. Use the flexibility and freedom of digital capture to your advantage by shooting as much and as often possible. Visually experimenting and playing will help you quickly develop your eye and style. By understanding how the camera sees, you’ll begin to craft your own visual language.

This disconnect between what you see when capturing an image and your expectations of what the final photograph should look like is where many photographers stumble. Your eye/brain combination is capable of differentiating between thousands more tones than today’s camera sensors or film can. Your eyes also perceive depth of field very differently. The result of these disparities can lead to unrealistic expectations about how an image should look based on how you remember it when it was captured. Learning to see the way your camera and lenses do goes a long way to improving your photography. Spend the time getting to know your camera and lenses and how they see the world. After you do, you’ll be rewarded with spectacular and compelling imagery.

Silhouettes

Using silhouettes as main or supporting elements is a great way of keeping compositions simple and directing viewer focus in your images. With silhouettes, the shape delivers only minimal information and adds mystery as well as a contrast to the background. Whether used as standalone images or as part of a series, silhouettes add impact and an emotional quality that resonates with viewers. They can be a powerful way to add punch to your images. If you’ve never attempted silhouettes before, consider giving them a try.

The basic approach is to find a dynamic background and underexpose the image by 1 to 2 f-stops or shutter speeds. Another technique I like is something I call the reverse silhouette. This is achieved by overexposing the background by 1 to 2 f-stops, the reverse of a traditional silhouette, creating a glowing and ethereal feeling while still maintaining detail in the foreground. This works particularly well with backlit subjects standing in an alley, in front of a window, or in front of an open set of doors.

The following two photos show how silhouettes can add visual power to your images.

Limiting focus

Another way to simplify your images is to limit the focus range to cover only the subject, rendering elements in front of or behind the subject partially out of focus. You can achieve this by using larger-number apertures (f-stops), all the way down to your smallest (widest), to reduce the amount of depth of field in that image. This is one of the main reasons, besides image clarity, that professionals opt for big, expensive lenses. These lenses come equipped with large apertures that are used to throw backgrounds completely out of focus. Because these lenses let in more light, they’re often referred to as fast.

AB.5 Selective focus creates drama, builds tension, and shifts the viewer’s focus to the desired area of the image. Exposure: ISO 100, f/4.0, 1/320 second with an EF 17-40mm f/4L USM lens.

By shifting the plane of focus this way, photographers blur the background or foreground and guide the viewer’s attention to the important areas in the image. This is a great technique to employ when you’re stuck with an unattractive or distracting background. A good example would be urban portraits where architecture, trash cans, and signage can all steal attention away from your subject.

With lenses, bokeh is an important consideration. The term refers to the way an out-of-focus point of light is rendered in an image. The word bokeh is actually derived from the Japanese word boke, meaning fuzzy.

Obviously, bokeh can make the out-of-focus areas aesthetically pleasing or visually obtrusive, and the interpretation is almost entirely subjective. In general, you want the out-of-focus points of light to be circular and to blend or transition nicely with other areas in the background. The illumination is best if the center is bright and the edges are darker and blurry.

Courtesy of Dennis Urbiztondo

AB.6 This night shot is a beautiful example of the bokeh created around lights when shooting at very wide apertures. Exposure: ISO 1600, f/2.8, 1/60 second with an EF 17-40mm f/4L USM lens.

The Rule of Thirds

One of the easiest ways to take your compositions to the next level is by breaking the unfortunately common habit of centering subjects within the image. You’ve probably seen this many times, especially in the case of horizontal images where one person’s face is dead center in the picture. The downside of this type of composing, in addition to being potentially visually boring, is underutilizing all the other real estate at your disposal: the top and sides of the image. The face appears to float in the middle of the picture. Recomposing and shifting the subject to the left or right side of the image easily remedies this situation. Including more of the background increases the visual interest, adds context, and can imply movement within the scene.

Perhaps the best-known principle of photographic composition is the Rule of Thirds. Also common in painting and film, the Rule of Thirds involves breaking down your image into an imaginary grid of thirds (both horizontally and vertically). Doing so gives you nine sections or boxes with two vertical and two horizontal lines, each a third of the way across its dimension.

The resulting lines and intersections are your “sweet spots.” The objective is to keep the subjects and areas of interest (such as the horizon) out of the center of the image, by placing them on or near one of the lines or intersections that would divide the image into three equal columns and rows.

Two techniques that I’ve found helpful when utilizing the Rule of Thirds are worth noting. The first technique is to have my subjects (either on the right or left side of image) look across and into the image toward its center. This helps adds balance and direction for the viewer’s eye to follow. The opposite approach, centering the subject, may weigh the image down, giving it an unbalanced feeling. However, as with any “rule” in the creative realm, there are exceptions, and centered images can be quite effective from time to time. Being armed with a thorough knowledge of these compositional conventions or rules and understanding the visual effect they have on an image will help you make informed decisions about where and when to use them.

The second technique applies when shooting landscapes with the sky as an element of the scene. If you see an incredible sky, try placing the horizon on or near the lower horizontal line. For skies without any interesting cloud formations but very good light, move the horizon up to the higher horizontal line and find some interesting element in the good light of the foreground.

At this point for me, after so many years of shooting, these decisions have become unconscious, based simply on what feels right visually at the moment of capture. You, too, will gain this intuition as you develop your visual vocabulary and hone your skills.

Courtesy of Dennis Urbiztondo

AB.8 Careful attention to the placement of the horizon line when making landscape photographs will add balance and tranquility to your images. Exposure: ISO 400, f/7.1, 1/100 second with an EF 17-40mm f/4L USM lens.

Field of View

Many times, better compositions can be achieved by merely moving the camera slightly up, down, left, or right. Distracting elements can be eliminated by taking a few steps to the right or left of the subject. By making subtle or not-so-subtle alterations to the subject’s position, your position, and the camera’s position, you can modify the background of the composition to include fewer distractions. Moving laterally, or vertically adjusting the camera’s position and angle, can also help achieve this.

Controlling the field of view can also mean getting closer to your subject by zooming in, changing lenses, or physically moving closer. Personally, I favor a mix of up-close-and-personal shooting with shorter focal-length lenses and working at more of a distance with longer focal lengths. They both have their charms. Working with shorter focal lengths in closer proximately to your subject helps create a bond and build rapport between the photographer and the subject, resulting in more compelling and authentic images than those shot strictly at a distance. On the other hand, shooting with longer focal lengths allows clients more breathing room, freedom of movement, and has the added benefit of beautifully compressing and blurring the background at wider apertures. One of my favorite lenses for this kind of shooting is the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM.

AB.9 Working with a long lens (Canon 70-200mm f/2.8) allows distance from the subject and blurs the background. It helps minimize unwanted distractions. Exposure: ISO 100, f/4.0, 1/200 second with an EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM lens.

Creating a unique and interesting visual perspective with your images should always be your goal. Try not to fall into the habit of shooting all of your images standing at eye level. This is the way everyone is used to seeing the world, and it results in images that are common looking and not very compelling. Changing the perspective to something unexpected can quickly elevate the mundane image to something superior and worthy of attention. You’re also creating more personal images when you tell the story of how things look from a vantage point other than your own. Images of children and pets, for example, are more interesting photographed from their eye level rather than yours. Also, remember that anything closer to the camera appears larger and any elements farther away appear smaller. That’s the reason many family portraits are most often composed with the children in front and the adults in the back.

To create more heroic-looking images of people, I frame them with the camera at about waist high or lower, making them seem larger than life, towering, and statuesque. By contrast, in tight situations where space is limited, such as a wedding cocktail hour or a party with guests whooping it up on the dance floor, I hoist a camera with a wide-angle lens attached to a monopod and shoot down on the crowd, triggering the shutter with a Vello ShutterBoss wireless cable release. onOne Software makes an iPhone and iPad app called DSLR Camera Remote that allows live previews and control of many of the camera’s most important functions such as the shutter release, aperture, and shutter speed. This setup is ideal when shooting overhead images for event photography.

After getting the “safe” shots, investigate more interesting options, like offbeat camera angles. Don’t be afraid to stand on a chair (don’t ask permission, beg for forgiveness!) or get down and dirty on your belly to create a more interesting camera angle of your subject. Any personal embarrassment will be long forgotten when you see the killer images you’ve captured.

Leading Lines and S-Curves

Leading lines create an illusion of perspective and a feeling of depth by merging at what is called the vanishing point. Oblique and angular lines convey a sense of dynamic balance and a sense of action. Lines can also direct attention toward the main subject of the photograph or contribute to the photograph’s organization by dividing it into sections.

A straight, horizontal line, commonly found in landscape photography, gives the impression of calm, tranquility, and open space. Be on the lookout for horizontal lines that cross a subject’s eye line, ear height, neck, or head because these can subconsciously create an uncomfortable feeling for the viewer. An image filled with strong vertical lines tends to give an impression of height, power, and grandeur. Tightly angled diagonal lines give a dynamic, lively, and active feeling to the image — a stylistic approach very common in contemporary wedding and portrait photography.

Curved lines or S-curves are generally used to create a sense of flow within an image. The eye scans these flowing lines with ease and enjoyment as it follows them through the image. Compared to straight lines, S-curves provide a greater dynamic influence in a photograph. When paired with soft-directional lighting, curved lines can give gradated shadows, which usually results in a very harmonious line structure within the image. Perspective is also important with S-curved lines; generally speaking, higher viewpoints produce more open lines.

Symmetry

Although I do suggest steering clear of centering your subjects in the frame too often and employing the Rule of Thirds when possible, there are definitely times when a centered composition works best. Centered compositions can work well occasionally for business portraits, editorial images, wedding images, and images with a square crop. I look for balancing colors in the background or some architectural items that I can use to frame my subject. Balance is what you’re striving for, and sometimes putting the subject directly in the middle creates the most powerful impact.

When shooting engagement sessions or couples, I often compose the shot in a way that creates visual diagonals, balancing the shot by having one person slightly higher than the other or farther away.

Also, pay close attention to the edges of your frame, and try to make use of all of them. Avoid having bright spots or colors or sharp focus directly on the edges of your picture. Areas such as these give the viewer’s eye an easy way out of the image and are the main reason many digital photographers today add slightly darker vignettes to their images to contain the edges of the frame.

Remember to always ask yourself what it is that you’re not seeing, what you are missing, and how you can improve upon what you’re seeing in the viewfinder to make your image more interesting. Think about new ways of seeing, step back to take another look, and circle your subject to look for different opportunities. Be open to suggestions from those you’re working with. You’ve got one opportunity to capture lightning in a bottle, so use it wisely!